Severed Arm's Anomaly Leaks Heavenly Secrets, Seeking Demonic Traces in the Void's Depths

Leaving the Netherworld and the Underworld, returning to the mortal realm, the strange cries at the edge of Reincarnation and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's "perfectly timed" Buddhist light cast a pall over Tongtian's heart. Was there truly an unknown connection between the Western Teachings and that Outer Realm Demon God? Was Ksitigarbha eliminating a demon, or silencing a witness? Doubts gnawed at his judgment like venomous snakes.

However, before he could ponder further, an extremely faint yet sharp alarm suddenly sounded deep within his Primordial Spirit. It wasn't from the System, but from his absolute control over the Chaos Bead! Inside the Chaos Bead, the severed arm of the demon god, sealed by layers of Chaos Qi, was violently trembling. A dark Demonic Qi, far more potent and pure than before, was frantically battering the seal's barrier!

What was even more chilling was that this Demonic Qi's assault wasn't random. Its frequency and intensity seemed to faintly echo a summons from the unfathomable depths of a distant void! It was as if an invisible thread had pierced through layers of spatial barriers, connecting this severed arm to its main body—or rather, to its world of origin!

"This is bad!" Tongtian's expression drastically changed. He hadn't expected the vitality of this demon god's remnant limb to be so strong, its senses so acute! The flash of Demonic Qi in the Land of Reincarnation earlier was likely not just a probe, but a signal, a coordinate, that had stimulated this severed arm, drastically strengthening its connection to its mother body!

He had to deal with it immediately! Otherwise, if this severed arm broke through the seal, or continued to transmit coordinate signals, it would be tantamount to lighting a beacon in the Great Desolation for the Outer Realm Demon Gods to follow!

"Master?" Yun Xiao, sensing the violent fluctuations in Tongtian's aura, asked with concern.

"The demon god's severed arm has changed!" Tongtian spoke rapidly, his gaze sweeping across the surrounding mountains like lightning. "We need to immediately find an absolutely secret place to refine it or completely isolate it! We cannot stay here!"

He sensed that with the severed arm's disturbance, several powerful Saint's Wills in the mysterious heavens seemed to have been subtly stirred, sweeping across the Great Desolation like a spiderweb once more! Venerable Lord of Primordial Beginning, the Two Saints of the West... although they couldn't pinpoint it precisely, they must have sensed the unusual Chaos fluctuations intertwined with that detestable otherworldly aura!

The pursuers were coming!

Without hesitation, Tongtian fully activated the Chaos Bead. A murky gray airflow completely enveloped the group and Kui Niu, distorting light and confounding Heavenly Secrets, as they fled towards the depths of Northern Julu Continent, a direction opposite to Golden Ao Island in the East Sea—a desolate, perilous place brimming with Sha Qi! That was a famously chaotic region of the Great Desolation, overrun by Yao and demons, with a harsh environment that even Saint's Wills would find greatly disturbed.

They sped along, traversing countless barren mountains and treacherous waters, avoiding several ancient forbidden zones. Finally, Tongtian chose a massive volcanic lava lake, ten thousand feet deep underground, eternally burning with inextinguishable poisonous flames and filled with chaotic magnetic fields, as their temporary refuge. The violent Fire Spirit Qi and the turbid Earth Sha Qi here perfectly concealed all their traces.

"Wudang, Yun Xiao, set up the 'Chaos Maze Formation' and the 'Nine Nether God Corroding Forbidden' around the perimeter to fully conceal this place's aura! Qiongxiao, Bixiao, guard the four directions! Kui Niu, guard the entrance!" Tongtian quickly commanded, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

"Yes! Master (Lord)!" The group, knowing the gravity of the situation, immediately acted as ordered.

Tongtian then sat cross-legged on a large black reef in the center of the surging lava lake, his hands held in a void embrace. The severed arm, wrapped in Chaos Qi and still violently struggling, hovered before him. The dark purple scales on the arm flickered with a faint light, the phantom image of its single eye appearing and disappearing, emitting a silent roar and exuding a soul-shattering desire to devour.

"Vile creature! Still trying to cause trouble at this point!" Tongtian's eyes were icy. The Chaos Bead above his head rotated slowly, showering down even denser Chaos Origin Qi, which began to crush and refine the demon god's will and essence remaining in the severed arm like a millstone.

"Roar!" A wave of violent, chaotic mental impact erupted from the severed arm, attempting to invade Tongtian's sea of consciousness. The phantom image of the One-Eyed Demon God even solidified slightly, opening its giant mouth full of sharp teeth and lunging!

"Hmph! Just a remnant will, daring to act fierce! Chaos Soul Devour!" Tongtian activated his Chaos Dao Fruit. The murky divine sense in his sea of consciousness transformed into countless sharp swords, actively engaging and battling the demon god's remnant will. Simultaneously, the external Chaos Qi, like countless tiny files, frantically wore away at the severed arm's scales and flesh, forcibly stripping and refining the Demonic Qi within.

This was a perilous process. The demon god's will was extremely tenacious, and its Demonic Qi was full of corrosive and polluting properties. A moment's carelessness could lead to a backlash. Tongtian was fully focused, maintaining his state at its peak, his Primordial Unity Magic Power surging ceaselessly as he engaged in a silent yet extremely dangerous contest with this otherworldly demon god.

Time flowed by amidst the fierce confrontation. Outside the lava lake, the formations set up by Wudang and Yun Xiao pulsed with light, completely isolating the area from the outside world. Qiongxiao and Bixiao guarded nervously, while Kui Niu, with wide ox eyes, snorted hot white air, vigilant against any disturbance.

Gradually, the impact force of the demon god's severed arm began to weaken, the luster of its scales dimmed, and the phantom image of the single eye gradually dissipated. The pure Chaos Origin eventually gained the upper hand, beginning to transform the dark Demonic Qi bit by bit into the most fundamental Chaos energy, feeding back into itself.

However, just as Tongtian thought he was about to succeed, an anomaly occurred!

The demon god's remnant will, on the verge of being completely refined, did not choose to self-destruct at the last moment. Instead, it gathered its final strength, transforming into an extremely obscure, yet clearly marked with spatial coordinates, dark stream of light, attempting to break through the Chaos seal and shoot into the depths of the void!

Before its complete annihilation, it wanted to transmit the precise coordinates of the Great Desolation and the existence of Tongtian, the "threat," back!

"You wish!" How could Tongtian let it succeed! He was prepared. With a thought, the Chaos Bead pressed down fiercely. The tiny Chaos vortex within the bead erupted with terrifying suction, like a black hole, instantly swallowing the stream of dark light containing the coordinate information!

Poof! Like a bursting bubble, the demon god's remnant will completely dissipated. The severed arm finally stopped struggling, transforming into a mass of pure, will-less dark purple energy, enveloped by Chaos Qi.

The crisis was temporarily resolved. Tongtian breathed a slight sigh of relief, beads of sweat on his forehead. But his expression did not relax; instead, it became even more solemn. Through refining this severed arm and the final coordinate information it attempted to transmit, he had captured some crucial fragmented information!

The coordinates pointed not to aimless Chaos, but to an extremely distant, yet relatively "fixed" direction! More importantly, from that remnant will, he sensed the meaning of an "outpost," a "pathfinder"! This One-Eyed Demon God was not the main force of the otherworld, but more like a member of an advance reconnaissance unit!

And the destination of its transmitted coordinates vaguely pointed to a "shadow" that was constantly moving in the Chaos, yet unswervingly heading towards the Great Desolation! That "shadow" exuded an aura that was vast, chaotic, and filled with endless hunger, millions of times more powerful than this One-Eyed Demon God!

"System, analyze the acquired spatial coordinate information and remnant will memory fragments!" Tongtian urgently called out in his mind.

[Analyzing... Target coordinates locked, energy level assessment: The coordinates point to an interdimensional spatial bubble rapidly approaching the Great Desolation. Based on its trajectory and speed, the estimated time for its vanguard to reach the Chaos region outside the Great Desolation has been shortened to within eight hundred years! Warning: Multiple powerful life forms detected within this spatial bubble, with energy levels reaching Quasi-Saint and above!]

Eight hundred years! Tongtian's heart sank to the bottom! The time was even more pressing than his worst previous estimate! Moreover, it wasn't scattered soldiers coming, but a fully formed vanguard fortress, manned by Quasi-Saint level powerhouses!

He had to find this "spatial bubble" as soon as possible and interfere, disrupt, or at least ascertain its reality before it fully approached the Great Desolation! Waiting for them to attack was too passive!

He opened his eyes, Chaos light flashing within them, and made a bold decision.

"Wudang, Yun Xiao, withdraw the outer formations."

"Master?" Everyone was confused.

"We're not going to Golden Ao Island anymore." Tongtian stood up, his gaze fixed on the sky above the lava lake, as if piercing through layers of rock walls to see the boundless Chaos void. "We are going to take the initiative, to go into the Chaos and find that approaching 'nail'!"

He would rely on the Chaos Bead's sensitivity to otherworldly auras and the newly acquired coordinate information to actively enter the Chaos and search for that otherworldly vanguard fortress! But Tongtian had no other choice. Passive defense meant only death. Only by taking the initiative could they fight for a sliver of hope!

"Master, we'll go with you!" The Sanxiao said in unison without hesitation, their eyes firm. Wudang and Kui Niu also nodded heavily.

Looking at the trusting and resolute gazes of his disciples, a warmth surged in Tongtian's heart. He nodded, spoke no further, and fully activated the Chaos Bead.

Buzz! The Chaos Bead shone brightly, and a more condensed gray beam of light shot up into the sky, not breaking through space, but directly opening a relatively stable temporary passage to the Chaos void above their heads! On the other side of the passage was the bizarre and unknown colors of Chaos.

"Go!" Tongtian gave the order and stepped into the passage first. Wudang, Sanxiao, and Kui Niu followed closely.

The moment their figures disappeared into the passage, several powerful Saint's Wills swept through the lava lake area, but only captured a trace of gradually dissipating spatial fluctuations and chaotic Chaos aura.

In the Jade Void Palace, Venerable Lord of Primordial Beginning snorted coldly: "He escaped again! It seems he's determined to hide in the Chaos."

On Spirit Mountain in the West, Daoist Zhunti's eyes flashed: "In the Chaos, Tongtian, what exactly are you plotting? And what is that detestable otherworldly aura?"